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Friday, July 16, 2010

[9.75/10] The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen (2000)


The Exorcist:
The Version You've Never Seen (2000)


"The Exorcist", quite simply is a masterpiece in film making and the greatest horror film of 20th Century. Friedkin really shines here as director, creating many memorable scenes and dozens of physically and aesthetically brilliant shots. His use of the camera is impeccable - every shot was given masterful consideration! Friedkin has spent endless takes just trying to get shots to his liking. Fact! Combine this level of perfectionism with an already interesting premise, flawless editing, excellent special effects, and some of the best acting in horror film ever, and the result is "The Exorcist". The film is revolutionary by bringing to screen for the first time elements of the horror genre that have become routine since then - levitation, psycho-kinetic capabilities, and especially the make-up that transforms the angelic Linda Blair into a demonic kid-monster. To make an angelic little girl into pure evil and her sweet innocence into unspeakable hideousness was a testament to director William Friedkin and writer William Peter Blatty's absolute intent to scare the hell out of us. And it worked so well! Jason Miller and Max Von Sydow are perfectly cast as the priests who risk their sanity and their lives to administer the rites of demonic exorcism, and Ellen Burstyn plays Blair's mother, who can only stand by in horror as her daughter's body is racked by satanic disfiguration. Linda Blair, barely 14 years old when she made this, gives a jaw-dropping performance in the role of Regan MacNeil, the possessed pre-teen girl that would become an icon of the genre. The extended version includes the missing and the deleted scenes, including the famous, hair-raising spider-walk sequence, which really doesn't have a place in the film except to add another unexpected shock. The fact is "The Exorcist" is an intelligent piece of cinema that stood the test of time and remained as one of the best movies ever made in the history of cinema, for its uncompromising show of horror, fear, loss, pain, sacrifice, hope and beauty!

  • My Rating: 9.75/10
  • Rotten Tomatoes: 87% (7.8/10)
  • IMDb: 8.1/10

2 comments:

Jaccstev said...

One of my favorite horrors of all time. Damn this film is just never get old and always exciting to watch.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

The extended version was even better. I was amazed by the fact that despite it was made 37 years ago, nothing looked old or dated.. at all! An outstanding achievement!